J. Wayne Blankenship, superintendent of Nordonia Hills School District for the last nine years, asked the school board last night to accept his resignation as the district attempts for the fifth time to pass a levy or face fiscal emergency and state takeover. The district has a 6 mill levy on the November 8 ballot.

"I made this decision in hopes of encouraging passage of an operating levy so desperately needed to enable the District to continue its Excellent with Distinction academic performance rating," Blankenship said in a district press release. "It saddens me greatly to sit by and watch levy after levy get defeated even after millions of dollars in cuts resulting in the elimination of academic programming. This saddens me to a point where I felt that I must do something that could possibly make a difference for the future of Nordonia Schools."

Blankenship's resignation is effective Monday. He'll go to work for the Summit County Educational Service Center on Nov. 1. Assistant superintendent Joe Clark will serve as interim superintendent.